The Wii is officially more than just a gaming sensation.
Nintendo’s latest console has captured the hearts, minds and dollars of not
only gaming fans, but also the elderly, vacationers, the health-conscious
and other casual markets.

Despite being released a year later than Microsoft’s current
generation console offering, the Nintendo Wii has surpassed the Xbox 360 in
total worldwide hardware sales, according to the latest data from VGchartz.com.

By the week ending August 23, VGchartz gathered that
Nintendo had sold 10.57 million Wii consoles over lifetime, while Microsoft
sold 10.51 million Xbox 360 consoles. In order to eclipse the Xbox 360 in less
than a year since release, the Wii had outsold Microsoft’s game system by a
margin of 2.3-to-1 worldwide.

A key factor in Wii’s quick pace in catching the Xbox 360
the acceptance of
Nintendo’s console in Japan. The Wii sold 3.46 million units in Japan,
while the Xbox 360 sold only 0.43 million in the same region.

While typical sales numbers from the game companies relate
to shipments to retailers rather than sold-to-consumers, VGchartz claims that
it tracks its data based on actual consumer sell-through figures.